Echoes & Ashes
by kaylabear1
Summary: When Four friends enter a live size replica of the starship of the new Mass Effect game, something goes wrong...
1. Chapter 1

Rafa's POV:

-Where is she?-, asked my friend for the fifth time, -I don't know Juan, otherwise we'd be with her right now-. The convention centre was enormous and it was almost impossible to find Kayla; plus, we just had the description of a picture of hers, it was the first time we were going to meet. I sighed a bit stressed and told Juan that we should look outside, -we might get a better chance out there-, -let's go then-. We headed outside, found the huge entrance line and searched for our friend there, -dammit Kayla, where the hell are you?-. I was about to call it off when someone grabbed my shoulder by the back, -hey slackers-, I had never heard her voice before, but that phrase I had read it over a thousand times, -Kayla-, both Juan and I turned around to see the girl we had been searching for.

Her hair was dyed red, she was a bit shorter than both of us and her green eyes stared with a smile, she was wearing a green tank top and blue jeans with white and blue hightops . Juan immediately said –where's your costume Kayla?-, she sighed and explained how her little sister had completely destroyed her Tali outfit; Juan sighed in sadness, I laughed as his face clearly showed disappointment, he had a crush for Tali. Juan and I had decided to go N7 casual, he had chosen the brown N7 leather jacket, with black pants and black shoes, while I had decided to use the black N7 hoodie, some blue jeans and my black tactical boots, both costumes from Mass Effect 3.

We headed back inside while Juan was completely excited about the new game, -just imagine the new open world…and being able to choose your species…and the new off galaxy locations…and-, I just ignored him, since I've been hearing the same thing for about three months, I just wanted to see the trailer, -guys, remember that Mark got us the entrance to the "new Normandy", Kayla interrupted me to say it wasn't the Normandy, -I know, I know, I'm just saying we need to find him and get in before the line gets big-, both of my friends nodded.

The Mass Effect exhibit was on the other side of the building, and since it was a live sized version of the new ship, it was on another room. We headed towards the correct entrance while getting some pictures with my camera of the cosplayers and of ourselves; from time to time I acted the voice of Shepard and began the famous phrase, "Hey, don't worry, we'll bang, ok?" Kayla slapped me every time I said it, wasn't going to stop me though. We found one of the Bioware employees turning people back, I got close to him, -what's going on?-, the guy looked at me and answered in a harsh way, -the exhibit is closed, there's been a problem on the ship, you'll have to come tomorrow-, Kayla looked a bit mad, -what about our tickets?-, the employee sighed and answered, -the money will be refunded, you can still look at the reveal, just the ship is the thing that will remain closed-.

We stood disappointed looking at the closed entrance; the employee was called through the radio and said, -the reveal will be in just an hour, if I were you, I'd head there immediately-, the radio sounded again, "we've got a problem at stage, send security and everyone here ASAP", the guy groaned and called the security guys to follow him. Kayla grabbed my shoulder to turn me around, -come on Rafa, there's nothing we can do now-, Juan also walked next to me, -yeah dude, we need to hurry if we want to get a place where we can actually see something-. Both were right, but for some reason I couldn't keep my eyes of that door, the door that led to the ship; I took off Kayla's hand and walked straight to the entrance, looked around to see no one was guarding it and tried to open the door. –WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!- Both Kayla and Juan said loudly, I shushed them and examined the door. The style reminded me of the Normandy's entrance, polished steel, sliding door; I looked for a knob or something to open it but couldn't find none, "where is it?" I said to myself, there had to be a way to access the other room; if we weren't going to board the ship at least we would have a look at it.

There was a panel at the side of the door, it had a blue screen, -Rafa we're going to get in trouble-, Kayla said to me, -come on Kayla, you want this as much as I do-, I touched the blue panel but nothing happened, it had no keyboard nor touchpad, -there has to be a way to open it-, I said while thinking, Juan handed me over one of our tickets, -maybe?-, I smiled and grabbed the ticket, -you're a genius mate-, I said to him as I held the ticked on the panel, the color of the device changed to green as a VI voice said, welcome crew member Alfaro, the door slid open before us. As we entered the lights turned on, we looked in amaze as the ship was unveiled before us, the design was obviously based on the Normandy SR-1, the arrow like ship was white with a single red stripe on the middle, the base was all black and the five thrusters in the back had all three colors. –Wow-, we all said at the same time, -it's so big-, said Juan, Kayla couldn't even speak; what was wrong with it? What was the problem that stopped Bioware from allowing people in? –Seems fine to me-, I said a bit suspicious, -just fine?!-, Juan answered, -this is glorious-, he spread his arms apart to make emphasis on what he just said, -I mean, the ship doesn't look damaged nor anything, what's the problem it has? Why didn't they let us in?-, -maybe it's something on the inside-, suggested Kayla, -only one way to find out-, I answered as I walked towards the entry hatch, both my friends stood still, -come on where's your sense of adventure?-, Kayla moved before Juan did. She helped me open the hatch, and I entered once they had, the ship was in complete darkness, -I can't see shit-, the voice of Juan was pretty distinctive, Kayla and I laughed, -let's check the cockpit-, I said as I tried not to fall nor push Kayla, who was next to me.

I found the pilot's chair and sat on it, the main panel was turned off, there was only one flickering light, I instinctively pulled the switch on it. There was a humming noise across the cockpit as the panels began turning on in a familiar orange color; when I looked behind me I saw my friends with their mouths open, -this is so cool-, Kayla said. I waited until the lights of all the ship turned on, -all we need now is EDI-, Juan said as he looked around, Kayla sat on the copilot seat, and started poking around; -too bad she died…at least in my play through-, I answered, -meanie-, Kayla said to me as she poked on the panel in front of her.

-I still can't understand what's wrong with the ship-, I told my friend as I turned to look her; she pushed a button that retreated the metal parts to allow the windows to be visible through, -uh oh-, she said. I looked through the windows and saw a bunch of security guys running towards the entrance hatch, -fuck, Juan, security is coming, close the hatch!-, he ran towards the entrance and closed it, -I have bad feeling about this-, -no shit Sherlock-. I got up the chair and helped Kayla get up from her's ; then we ran towards the back of the ship. There were two possible ways, the elevator and the stairs, -through where?-, said Juan, I started running, -stairs. Quick!-. Security was opening the hatch already. -Hurry up!-, Kayla screamed as she got the door at the base of the stairs; the label on the wall said "Engine Room", we got in quickly and closed the door. I managed to lock it with the panel on the wall. There was little illumination on the room, the wall had a subtle blue light, I turned around a saw the main engine, -what the…-, it looked exactly like the one in Mass Effect.

We got closer to see the engine; the thing was emitting the light. The blue ball was slowly rotating while emitting a low hum, -what the hell is this thing?-, Juan said, I was wondering the same; it didn't look like a prop, I could almost feel the pulsations, -let's get out of this room-, Kayla said as she walked backwards, -indeed-, I answered. I clicked the panel once more, but the door didn't open, -well?-, she asked, -it's not working-, I kept pushing the button, in a more violent way every time, -it's stuck or something, won't let me open the door-. Juan sighed and turned around, -great-, he said angrily, -let's go, where's your sense of adventure?-, he imitated my voice in an angry manner, -well it's your fault that we're stuck in a fucking engine and furthermore, WE'RE GOING TO BE ARRESTED!-, -HOW WAS I TO KNOW THAT THE DOOR WOULD BE JAMMED?!- I turned around as I answered in a similar manner, he pushed me to the wall, -genius mate, real good work here-, I was about to punch him when Kayla stood between us. –This won't help us get out of this place-, she slapped us both, -if you don't get it together they're going to find us, so RELAX-. We stood still looking at each other with resentment, -STOP IT!-, said Kayla again, -gosh, really guys, we need to stay calm-. –Ok-, we both said.

-Do you guys feel something?-, Juan asked all of a sudden, Kayla and I stood still for a second, yes, there was something, the pulsations seemed to be happening faster, to me it almost felt like a heartbeat, a heartbeat going faster and stronger. –I do, it's the engine-, Kayla looked at us, was that fear in her eyes? I thought it one more second; she had every reason to be scared; I was too.

The three of us piled against the door against the door. The steps of the security guards were near; but with every step they took, the engine's heartbeat went faster. I felt a warm breeze, the smell of ashes, and smoke, what the hell is happening? I thought to myself. For one second I heard chatter in many languages I didn't understand, it didn't sound human at all; I looked at my left expecting to see my friend Juan, but he wasn't no more, he had vanished, I felt Kayla grab my arm, I could only think to myself that everything was going to be alright. Again the scent of smoke and ashes, I didn't feel Kayla's hand anymore, I looked around and she was gone too. Everything's going to be alright, Ashes and smoke, screams of terror, mechanical sounds. Everything's going to be alright…


	2. Chapter 2

**Rafa's Pov:**

Ashes and smoke filled my lungs, but my skin could only feel soft grass, -what the hell?-, I said softly, my head felt as if a horse had pranced over my head. I opened my eyes; to my surprise I was indeed laying in a grass field, I tried to get up but I didn't have the strength. I began crawling towards the trees in front of me, "where the hell am I?" was the only thing I could think of. After a few minutes I regained the strength to stand straight; that's when I heard some quite familiar sound, not a sound found in the real world, but a sound I usually heard over the earphones when playing on my laptop, was that gunfire? More importantly, was that mass accelerated gunfire?

The next thing I heard was a mechanical sound, followed by human screams. I ran towards the trees and hid there; I didn't have to wait long before I saw a group of humans, clad in some strangely familiar armor. –Chief Williams, fire on those Geth!-, I heard a man scream, -Firing!-, the female answered. ASHLEY?! I was more impressed by what I had just heard than by the fact that those were humans fighting robots with mass accelerated weapons. Then if Ashley was here, and those were actual Geth, this could only be one place; but…how could that be possible? How could I be on Eden Prime? How could I be inside the Mass Effect game? I was interrupted by the incoming shot at me; I ducked just in time before the round hit my head. I sighed in relief and got to cover behind a big rock. –Williams, there's a civilian over there, get him out of there-, Ashley ran towards me as she shot a Geth right in between the robotic eye. She got to cover right next to me; at first she looked at me in a weird way, probably was because my clothes didn't fit with the standard, -you N7?-, she asked, looking at the logo on my hoodie, I kept quiet, didn't know what to answer. She got closer to me and grabbed my shoulder, -ARE YOU N7?-, I denied with my head, what was I supposed to answer? The other guys got killed while she asked me; Ashley cursed as she got ready to kill the remaining Geth.

She remained still for a second and turned at me, -are you combat efficient?-, I had used guns before, from a pistol to a sniper rifle, but nothing of this style, I shyly nodded; Chief Williams smiled and handed me her side arm, -I need you to distract them as I shoot, can you do that?-, I finally got my voice back, -yeah, I can-, I said a bit scared. Ashley got ready, -on your mark-, she said softly and readied her weapon. I looked at my pistol, I've used this in game, -hope it's not that hard after all-, -said anything?-, I realized I said out loud, -nothing-. I got into position and nodded at the Chief, -here we go-; I stood up and pressed the trigger, the shot went somewhat straight, considering the gun had more kick than anything I've shot before; the bullet landed on the shoulder of one of the Geth, I aimed for the chest. –Keep shooting!-, ordered Ashley, I didn't answered, just continued to open fire on the metal chunks. After one over heat, a burned hand and 2 minutes of cool down, there were five dead Geth on the floor. We both got up from our cover and walked towards the robots, -you're a bit rough around the edges, but fine shooting after all-, I looked at the white weapon, -thanks-; she extended her hand to present herself, -Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams-, she said as she shacked my hand, -James Castle-, I answered with a small smile on my face.

Then I remembered I wasn't alone on the engine room, -Kayla and Juan-, I said concerned, she looked at me and asked, -friends of yours?-; I nodded as she checked on her dead squad mates. –I had two companions, a girl named Kayla and a guy named Juan-, Ashley grabbed a belt from one of the corpses and handed it over to me, -you'll probably need this-; I accepted the belt and put it over my hoodie, she took an ear piece and gave it to me, -this too, otherwise if we get separated we'll be cut off-, I nodded as I got it on my right ear. Ashley looked around, -where were you before the attack?-, I had to lie a bit since I had just appeared by reasons I couldn't understand, -not far from here, near the beacon site-, I answered without realizing what I had just said, she looked at me with suspicion, -what do you mean the beacon? Not everybody knew about it, much less know it was a beacon-, I had to think really quickly, -my dad…he told me-, -and who's your father?-; that's when I realized I had made an incredibly stupid mistake. Ashley gripped her M8 Avenger rifle a little tighter as she was ready to aim at me when suddenly we were interrupted.

A group of flying drones came from the dig site, -Hide!-, said Ashley as she pushed me into the rocks. We overheard another conversation as those things opened fire on the men, Shepard, I thought, -we need to help them now-, I said; Ashley nodded as she prepared her rifle, I took out my pistol. -Normandy, we're under attack, where's Nihlus?-, that second one of the flying drones killed one of the men. –JENKINS!-, I recognized those voices. Shepard and Kaidan were retreating at the relentless droid attack. -We have to help them-, I said to Ashley; she agreed and readied herself for the fight to come. Ashley and I jumped from our hiding spot and fired on the drones, Shepard and Alenko took advantage and destroyed what Geth drones were left. Shepard shouldered his weapon and looked at us, -I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance, thanks for the help-; Ashley saluted him, -Gunnery Chief Williams at your service sir-, Shepard looked at me; I was in awe, he looked exactly like the Mark Vanderloo rendition, just a bit more real. –James Castle sir, a…concerned citizen-, Ash looked at me with suspicion again, but decided to let go. The commander looked at her, -Williams, I need to know where the prothean beacon is-, Ashley nodded, -it's not far from here, it won't take long to get to it-, -very well, let's go then-. While we ran towards the place I couldn't help but wonder where Kayla and Juan where, "I just hope they're ok". Then I remembered that Saren was about to kill Nihlus, if he hadn't done it already…Where are you guys?

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**Kayla's Pov:**

"I awoke startled by the sound of gun fire that was going off, I was behind some crates next to a building of some sorts. i sat up straight and held my head as a headache started forming the moment i awoke. As soon as it had past i got off the ground and took a good look at my surroundings. What i saw i couldn't believe my eyes. Where i was at looked exactly like Eden Prime. But that couldn't be because that was just a game. I began walking over to the two cosplayers, I didn't want to interrupt but I needed to find out where I was and if they'd seen Juan and Rafa. These guys were good, they looked like real Turians and seemed to know it word for word. And how much time and money was put into making this place look like Eden Prime. I was about call out when "Saren" pulled out his weapon and a flash followed. I paused, that felt to real, the weapon, they flash, the (color) liquid forming where Nihlus was laying. "Oh ****", Saren spun around and I dived behind a crate -what the heck is going on here!-. A voice called out, "You can't hide from a spectre human..." and I ran from the box as three loud shots filled the air, ramming the box.

-This can't be true, this is just some bad joke by Rafa and Juan- I thought, -but it had been too real, felt too real, and there was no way either of them had the patience or the brains ( ) to pull off something of this scale-. Despite now hidden in a better position, I didn't feel calm at all, as if he would hear any movement I made, and I could barely stop myself from shaking in fear. -Not only do I have to end up in the middle off the Geth invasion of Eden Prime, I had to be right next to Saren. Who knows where Rafa and Juan are- I heard the armored footsteps approaching, wherever my friends were, I had to focus on myself. But I wasn't some hero who could pick up a weapon and instantly become a master of it, I couldn't even see a weapon to use! The footsteps were casual, Saren also believed I was no threat. -Come on, I can think of something, not like I need to beat him, just had to either avoid or escape him-. One crate went flying into my field of view, I wouldn't stay hidden for long and Saren wouldn't give up searching, there were only so many place I could hide. -Come on, think!

There has to be something I could do- The footsteps stopped, very close to my hiding place. I searched frantically for something I could use, but there was nothing I could use. A shot went flying past and hit the ground, sending tiny bits of concrete (would it be concrete?) spraying and it took all my will not to shout, know Saren had me. But it was still again, he was trying to draw me out, but it was still only a little more time. -Distraction was all I needed, right?- I clutched a small pebble that had landed with me, definitely nothing Hollywood would approve of but it was about survival, not style. I tried to throw the rock as far as I could in this position, colliding with the wall with just enough sound in hopes it would draw him away. With luck, he bought it and started heading toward the direction of the sound. I waited a moment until i was sure he was gone and i bolted into the opposite direction he went off too. I was turning the corner of the building i collided with something that managed to throw me off balance and onto the ground. I looked up to see what i had bumped into and what i saw made me turn pale instantly. I freaking bumped into Saren..."

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**Thats it for chapter 2... Forgot to add this part in the first one :P Just wanted to let you guys know My friends and I are writing this story together. We will be writing more chapters every weekend or so. We hope you guys enjoy our fanfic :P.. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey Everyone Soooooo Sorry about the late update :/ A lot of things have been happening this month.. Unexpected things but luckily we managed to work out this chapter and a bit of good news on the side as well. 2 more chapters are in the works so YAY! Wait why arent you guys cheering? Oh thats right hehe :P Anyways i hope you guys enjoy.**

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Kayla's Pov:

Saren of all people was hovering above me, i started to crawl away slowly from him. He noticed i was trying to escape and quickly grabbed me by my hair and pulled me up. I struggled to get out of his grip but he only pulled harder. The next thing I did you could say was pretty stupid because I made a grab towards his pistol on his hip. "Stupid human, do you think a simple girl can take my gun?" he snarled at me as he slammed me against the wall then tossed me towards two of his geth goons.

He said something to them but as I was still disoriented from my collision with the wall I couldn't understand it. Next thing you know the geth troopers were taking me to a weird structure, it looked like one of those dragons teeth... I kicked and screamed at them in hopes they would let me go, but like stupid machines they just kept moving towards it. I could only hope Rafa and Juan were in a better situation than me.

Rafa's Pov:

We walked through the devastated scenery of Eden Prime. Shepard and Kaidan took point, Ashley and I were behind them; -we're getting close sir, just above that hill -, we raced to the place. My heartbeat went like crazy when i saw the Dragonteeth not far from where we were, and then we heard the screaming.

Kayla was being dragged by two Geth to the reaper device. Without thinking i readied my gun and raced to the place, -KAAAYLA!-, I called before shooting towards the droids; the Geth dropped Kayla and started shooting at me, I barely was able to take cover before the shots got to where I was. –Alenko, Williams, open fire on those Geth, we got to help James-, Shepard said before shooting his rifle with deadly precision, I remained hidden for a second and then I ran towards my friend.

She was still lying on the ground when I got to her, -Kayla-, I said before holding her in my arms, she looked at me with fear in her eyes, -Saren…- she whispered, I placed my finger on her lips, - I know, Shepard and company are here, and remember my name is James-. I had to prevent her from saying anything compromising; -Keep the conversations short, we don't need them knowing more than they should.

Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley were checking Nihlus' corpse; the commander looked angry. I helped Kayla up and we walked towards the rest of the group, Kaidan immediately checked Kayla for any injuries, -She seems alright, just the scare-, Shepard went straight to the point, -I'm commander Shepard of the Alliance, do you what happened here?-, my friend responded acting as if she didn't know the names of the Turians, -This guy was killed by another turian, he called him Saren, I was found by him after he killed your friend, then he shoved me to those Geth, you arrived just in time to save me-. Shepard nodded, he was analyzing the situation,

-Saren and those Geth are probably here for the beacon, we need to move, and fast-; Ashley stood silent and then explained how the train tracks would be the fastest way to the beacon,

-Ok people, we need to move then, James, keep Kayla safe, stay hidden, we'll deal with those Geth-, I nodded and readied my handgun.

Shepard and company were ahead of us, enough to allow Kayla and myself to have a small chat; I started talking, realizing I hadn't discussed the fact that we had teleported to what we thought a fictional universe, -so…Shepard and Saren huh- I thought that was the most stupid thing I could ever have said, -I mean, something happened, and we need to learn what happened at some point-, Kayla looked at me with a mocking smile,

-Any bright ideas genius?-, -not for the moment, first let's focus on getting off this rock-. Kayla stopped and punched my arm, -NO, WE WON'T LEAVE!- I looked at her surprised, she even got the attention of Shepard and the others, -everything alright?-, the commander's voice sounded doubtful, -yeah…It's the…shock-; said Kayla a bit startled, I could feel her trembling next to me. Shepard must have decided he had no time for our ramblings if he wanted to get to the beacon on time because he only told us to hurry up, I looked over at Kayla, grabbed her arm and walked faster, -I obviously haven't forgotten him, but you know very well the Normandy is our only way out of here, and they're not going to wait until we find him, so either he appears near the beacon or we'll have to find another way of coming back-. Kayla looked at me, her eyes showed a combination of anger, frustration and disappointment, -fine-, she said coldly, I sighed and kept walking.

We got into the train carts and Kaidan activated them, Shepard looked at us, -remember, stay hidden, we can't get to the beacon and be looking out for you, James, you've proved you're not a bad shot, keep it up and don't let that gun over heat-, I nodded and remembered how much I hated the overheating, "just two more years" I thought to myself. We stayed on the back of the train cart while the others readied their weapons on the front; I could hear the commander telling them that the beacon was the primary target, but Saren was not to be ignored, he looked back at us, I smiled and nodded, he returned the smile and looked at his companions, -let's do this people-.

The train cart moved quite faster than I had thought, by that moment Saren should've already gotten what he need and probably was ordering the Geth to prepare the bomb, before I couldn't say anything else to my friend we were under fire. –Stay in cover!-, Shepard ordered us; I readied the weapon and remained behind the wall. Just a few seconds later, the train cart stopped and the others quickly moved out and fired on the Geth, Kayla stayed on the same spot while I fired from multiple positions on the cart. Through the earpiece I heard about the bomb, -we need to disarm it before it goes off-, Kaidan said, -I'll handle it-, Ashley responded. –I'll clear that area-, I said, seconds later I was shooting at the Geth near the bomb. My aim had improved significantly, now I landed most of my shots, -Nice shooting James-, Shepard applauded as he cleared the remaining Geth.

-It's off Commander….the place is clear-, Ashley said while gasping for air. I signaled Kayla that the coast was clear and we walked towards the group, -Well, now's the beacon part-, I whispered to her, she ignored me and kept walking. The Prothean Beacon looked exactly like in the game; it was until that moment that I remembered what happened next. To me everything was moving in slow-motion, I knew what was going to happen, yet, being there to see it, I felt different; Ashley got closer to the beacon, it captured her, then Shepard ran to save her. I didn't think anything, I didn't even realize I ran as well to save the commander, grabbed him by the shoulders as the beacon downloaded everything to him…and to me.

I wasn't on Eden Prime anymore; I was falling in circles, endless pit of blackness, then the pain began, images, I couldn't make anything of anything I saw. My head felt like it was going to explode, a language that sounded alien to me…then complete blackness.

Kayla's Pov:

I tried to run to Rafa to stop him from heading to the beacon, I screamed his name several times but it was like he was in a trance. Kaidan wrapped an arm around my waist and prevented me from going any further. I tried struggling out of his grip as I watched Shepard and Rafa receive the information the Beacon was giving them. The Beacon Soon exploded dropping both of them to the ground. Kaidan and Ashley rushed to Shepard's aid, while i rushed to Rafa's. –You're so stupid James,-, I kept muttering. I was upset, I was also scared, Rafa is one of my closest friends; maybe my only friend in this game, and well if anything happened to him or Juan for that matter im not sure what I'd do. I don't exactly have any family or relatives or money. I was to lost to realize that Kaidan had called in Normandy to pick us up. I only noticed when kaidan came and shrugged my shoulder and told me we were leaving. I helped Kaidan lift Rafa and take him aboard the Normandy. I took one last look at Eden Prime and hoped that we didn't leave Juan behind.


	4. Chapter 4

The Fourth's POV:

Location:Sakura Convention

Three days after the group's disappearance

"In BioWare's continuing fight to disprove the rumors of the disappearance of the people aboard the replica Normandy from the new video game hit, Mass Effect, the same replica is now open to the entire public.

The ace up their sleeve at the Sakura convention, BioWare instead faced serious issues after three people supposedly snuck aboard the closed replica and were pursued by security, but were never seen leaving. Some say they could hear a pulsing rhythm in the air from the engine room, their last confirmed location.

BioWare has stuck to their original statement, as said by James Drapehs

"These people snuck aboard the replica and fled when security tried to talk to them. They got excited and made a rash move, realized the consequences only afterwords and got scared. I've been on it myself, there's plenty of creative ways to get off it if you wanted to, they found one. We're asking these people to step up so we can talk this out, show that they're responsible enough to accept they did something wrong and prove that all these stories are just excitement."

BioWare's campaign seems to be working, as the growing popularity is undiminished . This is Jane Kahir from 6 o'clock news."

"Please, it's all some big publicity stunt." Somebody next to me said, "a few people supposedly disappear and it's all they talk about here"

"Why are you complaining? We get to go aboard the Normandy!" Another voice shouted.

"I'm telling you, it was all planned, make some noise about this and open it to everyone, how can you not see it? Soon we'll be hearing an announcement for the next Mass Effect!"

I shook my head and continued on. Real thing, publicity stunt, next people will find a way to say it's an alien plot. But three people disappeared:Rafa, Juan, and Kayla and no sign of them at all since. The publicity stunt explanation would mean that they have to lie low for a while, but there was still too many unknowns. I just felt it wasn't them to take a kind of job like that. Unfortunately, sneaking aboard the Normandy and getting in trouble with security sounded a lot more likely with them...

But there was only one way to find out, and that was to check for myself.

Fortunately, the place I needed to check was open to the public, and getting a lot of attention.

"Alright, next group!" An employee shouted, and I stepped forward with fifteen other people.

As we walked up the ramp into the airlock I turned back to see the long line snake away, hours of waiting, hopefully it would be worth it. We moved into the airlock, which even went through all the processes seen in game. -Impressive- I thought to myself, entering through the doors. BioWare had certainly put a lot of work into the Normandy, and while it was empty and on an Earth that still dreamt of the space travel it completed with ease, it was such an iconic part of the game that you almost felt you were in Mass Effect. So Rafa had gotten me on it either way, but in hindsight I would have preferred the option where he hadn't disappeared.

I said the appropriate "ohhhs" and "ahhhs" with the rest of the crowd, trying to appreciate the detail and work put into it. Unfortunately, it was hard as the engine room got closer and closer. The door was kept open, but the passageway blocked by yellow tape, given a few more days and it probably would be much more secure. Unfortunately, there was a guard there, and I couldn't know if there was or wasn't anything else. BioWare may be as clueless as us, but if they try to put too much security it'd show...

I was trying to think up of some plan to get in when I got a lucky break. The man who had been talking earlier walked up to the guard say, "I thought the engine room was safe."

The guard remained motionless, but I had a feeling he faced this question every time. "It is" he simply replied.

The crowd was looking at the two, obviously interested in it, if I had any chance it was now. I moved across the back slowly, hoping enough of my cap hid the nervous look on my face.

"Then why is it blocked off?" Mr. Genius walked up closer to the guard, the less chance he could see me the better. I only had to move some of the tape to climb over and reach what was hopefully an active door panel on the other side.

A cautious glance showed the guard was working hard to keep his emotionless look.

"There is some damage done to the room, and possibly a few things we don't know about. It's just easier to let you see instead of risking possible injuries". I got ready to pull down tape once, twice, three times but stopped short. "Come on, you don't have forever, this is what you came here to do" I whispered to myself.

"Aw, don't want to break the experience," the guy turned to his buddy with a grin, "how nice." I felt bad for the guard, BioWare must have had explicit orders to keep up a good image no matter what. But I was looking at now or never here. "Screw it" I said and tore down the tape moving through even as I heard shouts of surprise behind me. I slammed my fist on the door control, a stream of expletives coming from my mouth as it felt they took forever to close, but just enough to stop anyone following me.

I had no time at all before the guard opened up the door with his card, I had to look fast, whatever Kayla, Rafa, and Juan supposedly exited through, I would have to too. The banging on the door reminded me just what I was doing, but it was too late to turn back now, so I had to make the most of it. I looked around, just like everything else on this Normandy, it was a perfect replica of what it was made after. But BioWare had made it sound like extensive damage had been done to it, but I failed to see any damage at all.

"It won't open! It won't open!" I heard a voice from behind the door say. Luck was on my side, and I hoped that meant that I was doing the right thing.

But the extra time seemed like a terrible trade off to the fact I could not find anything. BioWare must have convinced them to pull off the stunt, and everything hinged on the fact that they hadn't. A thought crossed my mind, they'd have to have some secret compartment or exit somewhere. But the small flame of hope was extinguished nearly instantly, it'd be well hidden and BioWare would know exactly where it was. It was just the time for security to finally get it open.

I slammed my fist into the wall, -why, why, why!- I shouted in my head. -Did you really have to do this? BioWare planned for you to do this, but I'll be burning for it. And no way out-. All there was to do was lean up against the wall and wait. A low hum suddenly filled the room. I looked up to see the engine emitting light, and the source of the humming, now active just as it is in the video game. I watched, was it something to distract me as the guards came in. Every second the hum become stronger, the light harsher. Just as the accounts of the first time, BioWare was making another publicity stunt out of me now.

There was no sound coming from outside, the room felt like everything there was, no sign of everything outside. I felt like my subconscious was on an overdrive out of my control, pressing at the edge of consciousness. I felt like I heard a thousand voices, none saying anything I could understand. I fell back against the wall overwhelmed, no stable thought, the light brighter than ever, and the sound shaking me.

Then everything suddenly felt different...

* * *

**_Hey guys Kayla here guys ^.^ another chapters up and runnin :D Now im sure some of you are wondering why we didnt go with Juan's pov next. Well Juan has college homework piling up on him and he cant really work on his Pov so we decided to make his pov for chapter 5 instead and bring in our 4th member into the group *crowd cheers* yay :D. I was hoping to get 2 chapters out this week but well things dont go as planned. Any ways hope you guys enjoyed this chapter._**


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